Lightning Strike
by Harry Potter Fan 1994
Summary: Korra learns of the brothers' past, and makes it her job to help them heal.  Of course, Bolin refuses to admit anything's wrong and Mako cares only about the upcoming championship.  Korra x Mako
1. Chapter 1

"Korra! You excited for our first practice as a team?" exclaimed Bolin. Korra laughed.

"Definitely! You'll never believe this-Tenzin-he's my mentor, for airbending, being the Avatar, all that-he was watching that match! And he was so impressed! I really wanna blow him away with the next one."

"Well, you're not going to do that by coming to practice late," said Mako crossly. Korra frowned at him.

"What happened to 'I'm going to take back what I said, you ARE a natural'?"

"That doesn't mean you don't have to be punctual."

"Um, guys?" interrupted Bolin. "As much as I like to see you fight...not...can we get to practice? I vote we make Korra teach us that awesome footwork first!"

Korra smiled at him, but Mako replied, "I think we need to run some basics by her. She has a lot to learn."

"So teach me."

"Fine. Warm up with the discs-and we'll fill you in on all the rules...and fouls. Especially fouls."

Korra rolled her eyes and walked to the other side of the gym with Bolin, who explained everything from the length of each zone to the specific peeves of the referee. Remembering to keep light on her feet, she whipped the discs at the net and tried to feel ashamed when she realized she was imagining Mako's face taking each hit.

* * *

><p>"One on one. Bolin will be calling <em>each<em> and _every_ one of your fouls. So concentrate on the rules right now, not on winning. You're not going to beat me anyways."

_You cocky jerk_, Korra growled in her head, familiarizing herself with the space that she had in zone one. No matter what, she'd try to push forward or her bending might force her to cross the line without realizing it-which would no doubt upset His Highness.

Bolin blew the whistle.

Immediately, streams of fire shot towards her and she swiveled to dodge them, otherwise staying rooted to the spot. She retaliated with powerful jets of water, pushing her hands forward and then rotating them in an attempt to torpedo Mako out of his zone. He jumped out of the way and spun into a roundhouse kick, but the fire created was immediately doused with more waterbending. Just to annoy him, Korra imitated his last move but added three swift punches-which he obviously was not expecting. Mako managed to dodge the first two but the third caught him in the stomach, pushing him back just enough so that-

"BEEP!" mimicked Bolin. "Looks like you've gotta move back to zone two, big bro!"

Korra smirked and prepared to defend herself against the now irked Mako's oncoming attack. It was obvious that this time, his fire was fueled by anger rather than irritation. It blasted by Korra's face and she could feel the searing heat though it had been a good six inches away. Using one of the tactics Bolin had taught her earlier that day, she feigned a veritable tsunami and used two fingers to shoot water right between his eyes. Korra got one look at Mako's surprised expression before his head hit the floor. Before she could laugh, though, something electric blue and terrifying crackled near her ear. She froze.

Lightning.

"You...Mako, you're...Zuko...?"

And a blast of fire knocked her clear out of zone three.

* * *

><p>"Are you stupid?" Mako snarled. "You can't do that when we're out there! Just because you realize somebody's Toph's grandson or something-"<p>

"Well, seeing as Lin Beifong doesn't have any children, that's probably not going to happen."

"You. Know. What. I. Mean."

"But you knew I was the Avatar and you never bothered to _tell _me?"

Bolin scratched the back of his head. "Actually...it was probably better that way...Mako, why did you-"

"What do you mean? Better that I didn't know you were related to Fire Lord Zuko?"

"Drop it, Korra," ordered Mako. "This is a practice, not a family tree drawing session. And it is now over."

Mako started to pick up the discs in the net and stack them up in neat piles. Bolin, subdued as Korra had ever seen him, grabbed a towel and headed for the showers.

_Don't back off. _She would not cross the metaphorical foul line of Letting-the-Mako-Shark-Swim-All-Over-Her. "What's your problem?"

He turned to face her. "You, currently."

"Very funny." She poked him in the chest. "You need to lighten up. And I don't mean that as a pun-using the lightning was completely uncalled for. Why are you the complete _opposite_ of Bolin? Did Zuko's broodiness rub off on you?"

"I told you to _drop it._"

"Do you really think I'm going to?"

"Do you really think I'm going to keep you on this team?"

"What other choice do you have? The next game is the championship."

Mako frowned, knowing he'd been beat. "After that. You're off."

"Because I want to know about your grandparents?"

He started and then returned to that cold, stubborn demeanor. "No. Because you lack focus. Maybe that's okay as the Avatar, especially when there's no war to fight, but it's not okay when your team members depend on you for these winnings...winnings that are going to help someone they care about."

Korra bit her lip. "Oh...I didn't know. I'm sorry, Mako. Really, I am. I'm just in this for fun, maybe for a little training. I had no idea that there was anything at stake."

"It's fine. Just don't...lose." He turned to leave, but stopped before he reached the door. "By the way, our grandparents...are not Zuko and Mai. Or we'd be princes."

"Oh...yeah. Heh."

"Our grandmother is Azula."


	2. Chapter 2

"Korra, you are forcing again. I thought we discussed this issue. You must-"

"Be the leaf, I know, I know," muttered Korra.

Tenzin sighed. "Is there something on your mind?"

"No."

"Evidently. Why don't we take a break. We'll try again in the evening-hopefully after you've run out of steam." He turned back into the temple.

"Tenzin, wait!" Her mentor stopped. "There _is_ something on my mind...what happened to Azula?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Why do you ask?"

"I just...I mean, no one ever told me."

"Very well. Come inside, we'll discuss this over some tea."

She followed him until they reached a table, at which point Ikki came bounding in yelling, "Ooooh, Korra has a _boyfriend_, Daddy! Korra has a boyfriend! Muah, muah, muah!"

Korra was more startled than embarrassed, though she did blush under Tenzin's disapproving look. "I do not!"

"Well, there was a boy that came looking for you! I told him you were training so he said he'd wait. He brought you something too." Ikki wiggled her eyebrows. "He's pretty."

"I think it's one of the Fire Ferret brothers, Tenzin. Really. No boyfriend," Korra assured him. Ikki stuck her tongue out and skipped away.

"Very well. Would you like to meet him?"

"Um...could I actually get the Azula story first? He...he said he would wait..."

Increasingly suspicious, Tenzin sat. "Where do you want me to start?"

"After her Agni Kai."

"Fine. You are aware that she had a mental breakdown, correct? Following that, she was transported to a mental institution, and a few years later she was released. I believe she still harbored much bitterness towards my father and Fire Lord Zuko, neither of which attempted to make contact with her. However, her health continued to fail, so she settled down-married, I believe, another Ozai sympathizer-and as far as I know, she is dead now."

"That's it?"

"That's it."

"Oh. So...I mean, theoretically...if she had kids, do you think she would've wanted them to hunt the next Avatar?"

"My ability to see into the minds of the mentally unstable is not as good as you seem to think."

"Right."

Tenzin handed her two cups of tea. "Be a good hostess, boyfriend or not."

"Tenzin!"

* * *

><p>Still red, Korra walked through a few rooms until she found Mako, who jumped up and awkwardly presented her with her water flask. "You left this yesterday."<p>

"Oh. Thanks."

An awkward silence ensued. Finally, Mako broke it.

"I'm not ashamed."

"You shouldn't be. I just want to know...Azula and Avatar Aang were sworn enemies. Are we?"

Mako frowned. "Of course not. We're teammates. As much as my grandmother tried to pass on her hatred of the Avatar, there's no place for it in this world. Not for benders, anyways. The battle now is between benders and non-benders. We're on the same side."

"Does it have to be a battle?"

"You haven't been here long, but you've seen a little bit. There are benders who take advantage of their power. Use it to hurt the defenseless. If it's not contained, it _will_ erupt into a battle." He noticed Korra's solemn expression. "But that's not the battle we have to worry about right now. The championship game is in two days, and we have a lot of practicing to do before then."

"You're right. I'll be on time for practice today, I promise."

For the first time since she'd met him, Korra saw Mako smile.

* * *

><p>"This is Naga. Naga, this is Mako."<p>

Naga growled.

"Yeah, I know I told you he was a jerk, but he's okay now."

"Thanks, Korra."

Korra settled against her furry friend. "I wasn't wrong."

"Yeah. I...sorry. About everything. Lightning, especially..."

"It's alright." Korra twirled her hands and made a bubble of water swim before Naga's face. The polar-bear-dog strained to pop it with her nose and, when she succeeded, it splashed all over her face. She shook her head violently, spraying water all over Korra and Mako. "So Bolin didn't want to come?" asked Korra as she wiped her face dry.

"I, uh...didn't ask him to," answered Mako, embarrassed. "You looked so shocked after you found out yesterday, and I didn't want him to...I didn't know what you would say. I thought I'd just stay on the safe side."

"You really care about him."

"Yeah. He's a good kid, even though he's had it tough. We're orphans, I guess...everyone but Gran is dead. And she's sick, really sick. He didn't know her as well as I did before her coma, so he doesn't think about it as much-and I think it's better that way. She's practically been gone for years, and now she's getting worse, burning up from the inside." He looked away. "You wouldn't believe how much money even the sleaziest healers demand to take care of the ex-Princess Azula."

"Is that what you need the winnings for?" asked Korra quietly.

"She's all we have left."

Without knowing entirely what she was doing, Korra took his hand in hers.

* * *

><p>"Where've you been, big bro?" asked Bolin with a wink as Korra and Mako walked into the gym.<p>

"Nowhere," Mako replied pointedly. "Let's start. At the end of today's practice, I want to have a two-on-one, Korra vs. you and me with just waterbending. And-"

"Don't say that I shouldn't try to beat you, because you know I will," interrupted Korra.

"Challenge accepted! Spar with me to warm up, Korra. I could, ah, give you a few pointers," Bolin said cheekily.

"Or I could give you some."

Bolin was a lot more fun to spar with than Mako had been the day before. He caused several pillars of earth to burst out of the ground, truly testing her agility as she jumped to avoid the exploding minefields. In between dodges, she bombarded him with water jets and in a rare millisecond-long open window, let loose a veritable tsunami to push him back into zone two.

"Good!" called Mako. "But be careful when you use that-you won't have time to recuperate!"

Korra leaped all the way to the very edge of the line between her side and Bolin's, bracing herself as he lifted several fist-sized rocks from below and strategically threw them, so that her body contorted every which way to avoid them and she was thrown off balance. He flipped and kicked a ripple in the earth towards her that she just barely managed to deflect with a wave of her own. She wasn't ready for his next attack, which threw her back two zones and very close to the edge of their chalk-drawn field.

Again, raising his columns of stone, Bolin knocked her off balance just enough for her to fall out of zone three.

"Okay, okay, take a break. Then Bolin, you're up against me."

Korra remained sitting, catching her breath. "Great round, Bolin."

"Yeah, not bad!" He sat next to her and a slow smile crept across his face. "Can I tell you a secret?"

"Do I want to know?"

"Well, since you walked in with Mako today, I figured you would..."

Despite herself, Korra asked, "So what's the secret?"

"You know how we live upstairs, right? So last night, and the night before that, when Mako thought I was asleep, he just sat at our window and stared out at the _great_ view..." He paused dramatically. "...of Air Temple Island."

Korra blushed. "I'm sure he had something on his mind."

"Or someone."

"Stop it!"

"Quit bothering her, Bolin. We can't afford to lose another team member before the match tomorrow," yelled Mako from where he was wrapping cloth around his wrists.

"Sorry, bro! Speaking of the match tomorrow, do you know who we're up against?"

"Yeah. Some narcissist who named his team after himself. Team Amon, I think?"


	3. Chapter 3

"_Amon_?" Bolin repeated. Slowly, it dawned on Mako.

"Team _Amon_? Are they crazy? Naming themselves after the Equalist leader?" Mako growled.

"I thought you said Amon was someone on the team…" said Korra.

"Let's hope not…"

"Maybe it's to throw off the other teams," Bolin suggested nervously.

"I'll say," agreed Korra. "But that's stupid. How are they even allowed in the tournament?"

"I guess it doesn't matter what the name of the team is…as long as they bend." Mako shook his head. "They do bend, right?"

"Well, if they don't, won't we win?" Korra pointed out.

"Not if they're chi-blockers," said Bolin.

"Then they can't get close enough to affect us. It doesn't matter. We treat them as any other pro-bending team. We need to practice. Bolin, you and I are up."

"Okay. Try not to be too impressed, Korra."

"I won't, Bolin, I promise." Korra smirked and grabbed a weight ball, practicing keeping it up with a steady stream of water a safe distance from their makeshift pro-bending field. It was boring work, but stamina was one of her weak points since she tended to put so much force into her bending. Her hands worked the water into intricate shapes just to spice things up, but even then, her attention wandered to the much more interesting match between the two brothers.

It was obvious that Mako tried to hurt Bolin as little as possible, mostly using his fire-bending as a threat rather than a weapon. The frequent slices of flame pushed Bolin back, but at every available break between Mako's attacks the younger brother would jump back to the front. Bolin evidently had no qualms about hitting Mako—earth was flying everywhere, jutting out of the ground at incredible speeds and occasionally encasing the fire-bender until he burned it away.

Korra didn't notice her concentration was entirely diverted until the weight ball landed on her foot. "Ouch!" she murmured as quietly as she could, sitting down to rub her toe and continuing to watch the match. Unfortunately, Mako realized she had ceased to practice as well, but he had just locked eyes with her when Bolin sent him flying with a well-timed jab. Mako landed hard on the floor far outside the third zone while Bolin cheered.

"Yes! I'm officially the best! That means you guys have to treat me to dinner! Haha, Mako, maybe having Korra on the team is too much of a _distraction_ for you. Bad idea to put such a pretty girl on the team, huh?" said Bolin cheekily.

Mako turned bright red and curled his hand into a fist like he was about to fire-bend the smile off Bolin's face, but then stopped like he'd been slapped. "…Yeah. Maybe it was. I'm gonna get some water." Without turning to look at her, he walked to the other end of the gym.

"Wait…Bolin? I didn't mean to stop, I was just—I thought it was okay for me to watch for technique and stuff—if he wants, I can keep doing the stupid—I mean, the weight ball thing—"

Bolin waved it off. "Nah, don't worry. He's just mad that he lost."

"He didn't mean that, right? It being a bad idea to have me on the team?" Korra asked slowly.

"Nope. He'll be fine. Trust me, the last time he liked a girl—"

"He doesn't like me!" Korra interjected. "…But what happened the last time?"

Bolin grinned. "Never mind. If he doesn't like you, I guess you don't have to worry about it, right?"

"Bolin!"

* * *

><p>"And now, for the match of the evening...the Fire Ferrets vs. Team...Amon..."<p>

A wave of unease rippled through the crowd.

"Don't let them get to you," Mako warned through gritted teeth. It was much easier said than done. Their opponents were all wearing the mask of Amon, and they stood eerily still, like statues. Korra shuddered, and Mako glared at her. "I said _don't_."

"I heard you, they're just...I don't like this."

The match had begun, but the cheering was practically non-existent. The Fire Ferrets gave it their all, as usual, but Team Amon refused to do anything but dodge their attacks. It would've been a slaughter if they hadn't been so agile.

"What-are-they-doing?" grunted Korra between punches.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling they're trying to tire us out before they start bending. Stand your ground but ease up on the power, try to get more breadth than force," instructed Mako.

Korra did as he said, covering as much area on the opponent's side of the field as she could with jets of water. All three of the benders on Team Amon were jumping, dodging, and flipping like crazy. Korra did her best not to let it bother her until one of the team members slid right in front of her to avoid one of Mako's flames. His eyes were colder than ice-they froze her to the spot and pierced her very soul-

The bender rounded off onto another area of the field, but left her unsettled. She felt like bending was taking more effort than usual, like it was-

Someone was screaming. Bolin. Bolin was screaming. Korra looked over and saw that the same bender who'd stared her down now had her teammate in some strange headlock, with his unused hand pressing on Bolin's forehead and temple. Now everyone was screaming, the entire stadium had erupted into chaos. The strange man let go and simultaneously, all members of Team Amon jumped into the water, swam to the exit, and disappeared.

The announcers tried in vain to calm everyone down while Korra and Mako ran to Bolin, who was pounding on the ground. At first, Korra didn't realize why, but then Bolin looked up at Mako helplessly.

"I...I can't bend..."


End file.
